Sunday, March 1, 2015

Socio-Economic Status of Dalit Women across Indian Metropolitan, Urban and Rural Societies.

Socio-Economic
Status of Dalit Women across Indian Metropolitan, Urban and Rural Societies.

This
theme topic is based on the worries of the society about its unfortunate
segment of society , which have been treated with contempt far
ages by all religions. The Dalit women is perhaps a name of a soul
covering Skelton which serves everyone in society with little hope of any care or concern for herself. She is
being neglected by the society for being one whose job is to work for the
welfare of society. She works form
scavenger to midwife, labourer to agriculturist, house wife to warrior like
other women, she is a mother, a sister, a daughter a wife, a Divine solace and
carer. She cleans and comforts
others. But the society cleaner was
hated, hated and hated again. Her socio storey is long narration of wins and
losses.Dr.
B.R Ambedkar the jurist, economist, educationist besides the father of Indian
Constitution said “Unity is meaningless
without the accompaniment of women. Education is fruitless without educated
women, and agitation is incomplete without the strength of women”

Dr.
S. Radhakrishnan the Indian President, world repute philosopher
and writer said “ You
can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the condition of the status of
women”.

Dalit woman is disadvantageous on two accounts as being a Dalit and a Woman.

Woman and
society:- In the early times of human
history, the families were Matriarchal (mother as head of the family).Although
woman was not weaker than man, but
during menstruation, pregnancy & child birth she had to depend upon
man., who subsequently enslaved her and society took the form of “Patriarchal”
(Father as Ruler & Head of family). Still woman continued to enjoy
authority & respect in the family. This continued in the Vedic Period, and
women continued enjoying equal rights as men with liberty to choose their
husbands in open “Sayambars” The
respect enjoyed by woman of that time could be gauged from the verse” Yater Nariasye Pujante, RamteTater Devita (God reside at places where women are worshiped)”
No religious ceremony by man was complete without participation of his wife and
Rama had to get statue of Sita made to carry on with ceremonies for Ashawmegh
Yagna. But process of down grading & enslaving woman had set in. The
treatment of Sita at the hands of Lord Rama is a pointer. The Valmiki Ramayana
tells about Ahalya wife of Gautama sage, who instead of getting sympathies for fouling
her chastity forcibly by Indra, she
was punished for none of her faults by her sage husband and she was made a
stone figure. Further enslaving of women started in the later Vedic period.
The Hindu Law Givers like Manu although,
he too was born out of a mother ( woman ) , codified in his book Manu Smiriti (200 BC) proclaiming these to be the Devine laws. Manu
Said ” It is the very nature of woman to corrupt men Verse 2(213 ) ; woman has
no right to acquire property Verse 8
(416 ); Rules like serving husbands faithfully even, if he is
devoid of any good qualities verse 154 (5); a girl, a young woman, or even an old woman should not do anything
independently, even in her own
houseVerse147 (5),She should not be independent 5(148). There is no Vedic verse
for women .A widow should be long
suffering, until death, self restrained, and chaste( Abstain re marring )
verse158 (5)” She should obey her husband while he is alive and not violate her
vow to him when he is dead151(5) ,Child marriage supported 9(94) Shankara charya of Kerela ( 9th
Century AD ) proclaimed “A woman is a sure gate of hell & she is poison in the disguise of
nectar” So called Golden rule Of Gupta
dynasty kings proved worst
period for women, when Brahminical
Rules & dogmas ,codified against
women were got strictly enforced . The system started for keeping unmarried
girls/ women in temples “Dev- Dassies” for the service including sexual abuse
by the priest in the name of God. Mahatam Gandhi while writing in the Young India( 6Oct.1927) wrote , he was pained to know that
many temples in India were no better than prostitution centres. In Ramchariter
Manas ( 1577 CE) Goswami
Tulsi Das Says in Arandkand salok 9 “ No
body can be as vile as a woman ,who for a moment’s enjoyment, does not understand the pains of hundreds of births ” In Saloka 5 he further says “ A woman is impure from her birth” page
655 A woman is the lowest of those who rank as the lowest of the low. Page
697A drum, a rustic, a sudra,a beast and a woman all these
require beating Page 855,( Romanised
edition). Where as it is also said that his poise wife
Trilotama put him on the Bhagati
Marg when she decried him and said I
condemn such love for me which makes you
to run after me, even when she had gone to her fathomer’s place for a few days.
A sage named Samanti is reported to have said” A girl is a sale able
commodity.”

Even Muslim religion advocates
strict rules for women to remain in Parda (veil)."Men
are above the women, because Allah has given the one part a superiority above
the other."Islam/Koran –
Sure 4”."The women
shall be servants to their men who are their masters."so
says “Christian Bible:
Paul to the Ephesians in the New Testament” .

Women are suppressed, disregarded and
abused by every religion in the world. They are considered inferior to men by
these organizations and are therefore condemned to be a second class type of
person. A great many women have no rights at all. Women was frightened of the curse
of God for her non compliance to her duties towards society and her husband.
Her husband was declared her God. She was promised by Hindu religious pundits 35 million years SAWARG( Heaven) in
the company of her husband, if she committed SATI ( Bride burning with dead body of her husband). In Bengal alone from (1815-1828) as many as
8164 women were burnt alive. Killing of
a girl child is not new. In the British controlled Central province in 1836 in
a group of 10,000 Rajput families not even single girl child was found. The
Dogra Rajputs of Jammu Province used to burry newly born girl child till 1947
as all rules and reforms could hardly make them to leave this unlawful
activity. Besides other reasons dowry was
cited as one reason to kill the new born girl child. The girl child killing has changed names
and methods with time. New name for it is female foeticide i.e.the act of destroying
a female foetus. This has upset the male-female ratio adversely. As per 2011
census figures some of the flaring examples are for every 1000 men number of women availability is
Chandigarh U.T. (818) Haryana (877)
Delhi UT (866) J&k (883) with all India ration as 944. Illiteracy was another virtue of women.
Indian women in i 1900 had almost zero women
literacy which rose in 1951 to
7.93% literates against 24.95% men with
improvement it rose to females 56.99%
against males as 71.22% in 2011 . In J&K in 2011 males (78.26%) and females(58.01%) are literate. Again rural
India has 59.4% with urban 80.3% literates. In 2011 the male and female literacy for those who have gained
education up to Higher Secondary is
respectively 7.3% and 5.9%. It is interesting
to know the definition of a literate person too. A person aged seven and above,
who can both read and write with any understanding in any language, is treated
as literate. Statistics
data tells one out of every three girls growing up here will not
finish primary school. There are other road blocks in women empowerment as school drop outs,
selling of brides, bride beating, bride burning, polygamy, polyandry and many
more. Road barriers in the socio-economic well being of a Dalit women are in addition to what have been described aboveThe word “Dalit” comes from the Sanskrit root “dal”
and it means “broken, crushed ,ground-down, ruined, torn, split
pulse, downtrodden, or oppressed
Panchamas “ Fifth Varna” and Asprushya
,out castes ( Untouchables). As no split grain can germinate so was a Dalit .They were also known
as Depressed Classes, and Harijans and now increasingly adopting the term
“Dalit” as a name for themselves. “Dalit” refers to one’s class rather than caste; it applies to members
of those menial castes which have born the stigma of “untouchbility” because of
the extreme impurity and pollution connected with their traditional
occupations. Dalits are ‘outcastes’ falling outside the traditional
four-fold Hindu caste system consisting of the hereditary Brahmin, Kshatriya,
Vaishya, and Shudra classes. Dalits are
considered impure and polluting and are therefore physically and socially
excluded and isolated from the rest of society.Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of groups across
India. They speak a variety of languages and practice various religions. Many
names have been used for this group of people .They are historically
disadvantaged people . In 1932, theBritish Rajrecommended separate elections to select leaders for Dalits
in theCommunal Award. WhenM.K. Gandhiopposed this and the negotiated solution, produced thePoona PactwithB. R. Ambedkar.Sudras of Hindu
classification are those who are now classified as Other Back Word Classes( OBC) and their
population as per 1931 censes was 52%. So combined Outcastes ( SC”s plus ST’s) and OBC’s form above 75 % of Indian population.

In 2011, Dalits( Out castes) made up
24.4% of India's population.Among
Indian states, in 2011 Dalits were the most prevalent inPunjab, at about 31.9 percent
whileMizoramhad the lowest at approximately
zero.
Lakshadweep has the highest proportion of STs at 94.8 per cent. In Jammu and Kashmir S/C’s alone are 8% but divided in 13
different castes. Population of Dalit women is about 52.4% in J&K. They are still a neglected and hated lot in free India. According to a 2014 report to theMinistry of Minority Affairsby Amitabh Kundu, over 44.8% ofScheduled Tribe (ST)and 33.8% ofScheduled Caste (SC)populations in rural India were
livingbelow the poverty linein 2011-12, compared to 30.8% of
Muslims. In urban areas, 27.3% of ST and 21.8% of SC populations were poor,
According to a 2014 report by The India Government Research Institute, Dalits constitute nearly half of primaryschool drop outs. Among state schools, 88%
discriminated against Dalit children, while 79% required Dalit students to sit
in the back of the classroom.In
79% of schools, Dalit children are forbidden from touchingmid-day meals. They are required to sit separately
at lunch in 35% of schools, and are required to eat with specially marked
plates in 28%.In high schools,
higher caste students are often advised not to mingle with Dalits. In September
2014 in Tamil Nadu, a Dalit plus one class student at the Government Boys
Higher Secondary School of Thiruthangal in Virudhunagar district was attacked
and his wrists were cut by non-Dalits, because he wore a watch to school. In May, 2012 Scheduled Caste people were beaten in Kathua
village for drawing water from a upper caste well, when the well stood repaired
with Government funds. Discrimination also exists in access
to healthcare and nutrition. Medical field workers do not visit 65% of Dalit
settlements. 47% of Dalits are not allowed entry into ration depots; 64% are
given less grain than non-Dalits; and 52% are given grains from a
distance. Still Manual Scavenging and
carrying on head human excrete is prevalent in some parts. Dalit women have to
perform still such inhuman acts.
She removes the contents of toilets daily using just their hands and a
plastic shovel. Not only is this for majority of Dalit population there no
personnel hygienic conditions in India.India
is the country with the highest number of people (597 million people)
practicing open defecation as of 2012.
Dalit women are paid less wages. Since she has to get engaged in manual labour
so she is unable to attend properly and effectively to her house hold job
including child care. This rebounds
into illiteracy, poverty, unhygienic house hold atmosphere. So Dalits constitute nearly half of primaryschool dropouts. Dalits constitute majority of population below poverty line
25.7% with ST’s 45.8%( urban)and 35.8% (rural),besides SC’s 38.3% (urban) and
35.5% (Rural).On inflation adjusted 1973 Rupee
basis, the average income of Indian agrarian laborer was Rs. 7.20 per year in
1885, against an inflation adjusted poverty line of Rs. 23.90 per year. In 2014
anybody
whose monthly income is above Rs972/-
per month( Rs32/-daily) is considered above poverty line in India when each
litre of milk costs nearly Rs 40/-. UNICEF, using 2005-2006 NFHS-3
sample survey showed 7.4 million children born with underweight(39 percent), women under weight
at the delivery time and 40% unban
children 6-59 months age were showing less height than world standards. A crime against Dalits happens every 18 minutes — 3 women
raped every day, 13 murdered every week, 27 atrocities every day, 6 kidnapped
every week.TheBhaganaRape case is an example of atrocities against Dalit girls and
women. Bangalore the best metropolitan city of India records the most offences against
Dalits.Inter-caste marriagehas been proposed as a remedy, but
only 5% of Indian marriages cross caste boundaries. Housing is another
essential requirement and in 2009 there were about 170 million
people living in slums. About 66% of Mumbais residents live in shanties,
including about 40% of the city's police force.
Forests which were providing source of livelihood to Dalits in a verity
of ways, are being systematically taken away from the Dalit population who were so far depending on
these natural resources. Forests were
providing raw materials for crafts, small scale industries, verity of herbs, grazing places foe domestic animals etc. Since more than 60 per cent
of the population does not participate in any economic activity. The figures
may seem alarming but then students and homemakers have been categorised as
'non-workers', along with dependents, pensioners and beggars. Alternative sources of
work for able bodies will have to be found for well being of society. Modern Challengers:--

Keeping
in view un-natural law enforcing by men duly sanctified with discimatory
religious sanctions against women, besides Dr. Ambedkar, many saints like Guru
Nanak, Kabir, Ravidas & social reformers like Swami Vivekananda. Dayananda,
Raja ram Mohan Roy, Periyar E.V.
Ramaswami, Mahatama Jyotiba phuley raised their voices in favour of women equality in status with
man. Ever condemned British Rule in India came to rescue of Indian women in a
big way, as it banned Sati System on the insistence of Raja Ram Mohan Roy . Mahatama Jyotirba
Phule and his wife revered Mata
Savitribhai Phule opened 18 schools for girls in Pune starting from ever first school for girls on
1-1-1848, and adopted son born to a
Brahmin widow as their heir
against strict opposition from Hindu clergies. In recent past a writer (
Sahir Ludhanavi) summed up the plight
of women in his song” Aurat Ne Janam Diya
Mardon Ko, Mardon Ne usse Bazar Diya. (Woman gives birth to man, but man put her in
Prostitution centre)” Constitution Provisions scuttled:-

The Indian Constitution banned practice of Untouchbility
under Art 17 in 1950. Article 17 reads
“Abolition of Untouchbility, Untouchbility is abolished and its practice in any
form is forbidden The enforcement of any disability arising out of
Untouchbility shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law” Prevention of atrocities Act 1989 was another a Act for the
prevention of atrocities on SC’s & ST’s, but hardly any visible change has
been observed at ground level. Proposed Hindu code Bill of Dr. Ambedkar would
have changed the fate of India women drastically and thus cut her centuries old slavery chains .But alas, it was
scuttled in and outside the Parliament
by vested interests pro status quo. On this Dr. Ambedkar resigned from the
Union Ministry, creating a rare history of sorts for the women cause. But later
it was passed in parts and have improved the condition of the Indian women. The
improvement in condition of Dalit women are welded with the improvement of
women as a whole. Despite all
disadvantages a Dalit woman is courageous like Mata Savitribai Phuley the first woman teacher in India, scarifying self and caring like Mata Ramabai
Ambedkar, warrior like Jalkaribai Kori
the Dalit commoner in chief of Maharani Jansi,
Martyrs( 1875) Mahaveeri Devi(
Bhangi) and her 22 other companions,
Udhadevi,who killed 36 British soliders single handed, athlete like P.T.
Usha, artist like Oscar winner Pinki (
Slumdog), philanthropist Nani bai
( prostitute) who donated one lakh
to Lady Harding Medical College, shrewd politician as Mera Kumar and Behan Mayavati
. She has the capabilities to change the world scene if given a chance. Caste based society is the greatest curse for a woman and so Dalit woman too. A Dalit woman is strong to face life odds and needs level grounds to
show her capabilities. Dalit woman needs
feeling of belonging-ness as per saying of Mata Savitribai Phule “ Till such time we don’t understand that we
are children of only one Creator it will be difficult to understand His grace.”